Of all my shortcomings as a writer, one of the more noticeable tics is a tendency to bury the lede. If not for the numerical rating at the top, you could read three or four paragraphs into most of my reviews without having any idea whether I actually liked the product, and who has time to indulge a rambling narcissist for that long? Not you, you’re a busy person. Things to do, foods to try! So allow me to cut to the chase:
I had to buy a second box of these Wheat Thins because my family and I ate the first one before I had finished the review, and also just because I wanted to. That almost never happens, even when I really like the food. So there you go.
Now that we’ve gotten the metaphorical first kiss out of the way, we can move on to the rest of our evening. Let’s be candid: in terms of thrilling or exotic foods, crackers rank somewhere between canned tuna and oatmeal. No movie has ever featured a box of Saltines in a steamy seduction scene. Scarlett Johansson could not make crackers sexy. There’s a reason why it’s the preferred terminology for boring white guys like myself.
And even in that dubious company, Wheat Thins are not what you think of as the cutting edge, kick-ass cracker brand. Triscuits, maybe. Cheez-Its? Hell, those em-effers are crazy. But Wheat Thins? They’re what your parents put out as an appetizer before dinner. (Confidential to mom and dad: I still love them! But mostly when sandwiching pepperoni and cheese slices.) So when you hear Wheat Thins is putting out a chili cheese flavor, you scoff and think, “Targeted at who, retirement communities? 8-year-old girls? The Amish? Get real, Wheat Thins.”
And then you take a bite just to be indulgent and it’s like that Chappelle Show sketch where Charlie Murphy plays Prince in a game of pick-up basketball, and the only thing you can say after your first bite is, “Game… blouses.”
I’m serious — by cracker standards, these are really good. They aren’t going to immolate your tongue or make steam shoot out your ears like a 1930s cartoon. But you WILL taste some heat, especially in the crackers at the top of the box. (I noticed the chili flavor starting to get less intense around the middle of the package.) Yes, a Texan would probably pour oil and rattlesnake venom on these and call them breakfast cereal, but for the rest of us, the heat is enough to keep you interested.
In terms of the cheese, it’s definitely overshadowed by the chili. Which is not to say it’s bad — there’s a coating on every cracker that’s probably mostly chili powder, but I would guess also includes cheese dust. It’s just not especially noticeable unless you’re really concentrating, and even then… enh. Not bad, but you’re getting these for the chili, not the cheese. As for the texture, I know it’s incredible to believe but they remain, in fact, Wheat Thins. Same as it ever was.
So there you go: I said at the very beginning that these were great crackers that I willingly bought another box of, and here I am reiterating it. If you’re in a position to pick these up, you should definitely jump on it. That said, I am still going to take points off for unironic use of the word “kickin'” on the back of the box. Because at the end of the day, you are still Wheat Thins. Own that.
(Nutrition Facts – 15 pieces – 140 calories, 50 calories from fat, 5 grams of total fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 3 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 1 gram of monounsaturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 180 milligrams of sodium, 95 milligrams of potassium, 21 grams of total carbohydrates, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 3 grams of sugars, and 2 grams of protein.)
Other Chili Cheese Wheat Thins reviews:
Junk Food Guy
Item: Nabisco Chili Cheese Wheat Thins
Purchased Price: $2.99 (on sale)
Size: 9 oz. box
Purchased at: Giant
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Putting stereotypes to rest. Brings some heat to the party. Would probably be great sandwiching some Swiss cheese. Not too bad for you. Game… blouses.
Cons: Could stand a little more cheese flavoring to keep up with the chili. tl;dr. “Kickin'” is a very cracker thing to say. Taking shots at the Amish is so 1996.
I like the new Wheat Thin flavors, after a few decades the regular Wheat Thins didn’t inspire much excitement
Hey! I like your writing style, and I read it on my exercise bike so the more you write the better workout I get. Then I go eat a vegan corn dog or two. Lol.
Thanks, I appreciate it! I’m off to go play kickball. And then, uh, drink some beers. Well, maybe it’ll all even out.
There’s something about this flavor that prevents me from wanting to buy it again. I can’t put my finger on it. It’s good, but it’s one of my least favorite Wheat Thins flavors.
ha! good article. I read it at 3am while trying to get sleepy. didn’t help. and by luck, I stumbled upon the very last box of this flavor at a nearby ‘redneck’ winndixie just this afternoon. they had all the other varieties stocked to the rafters, but only this one remaining box pulled forward to look like the shelf was stocked behind it. not anymore though because I nabbed it before some old lady teetering up the cracker aisle saw it. will try this weekend, while watching some drivel on tv, and report back. hopefully, the lack of boxes of his chili cheese wheat thin flavor foretells the deliciousness that awaits me. either that or winndixie only ordered one box – just to be cautious in the event of poor sales. won’t they be thrilled to find that I emptied the shelf?!
a short follow-up to my previous post. Drew’s review is spot on. i ate them. i enjoyed them. i’d buy them again.
Respectfully, I found the chili/cheese variety severely overly powdered and overly salted. The original Wheat Thins are a 50-year classic best seller for a reason: because of the discernibly mellow taste. These are anything but mellow. In fact, we threw 4/5 of a box in the trashcan. I’ll be interested in trying other flavors, but the chili/cheese were a total fail at our house.
Curious… besides me, has anyone else noticed feeling a kind of “zoom” after eating these?